


Let's Kiss and Break Up

by campbellxliz



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: I don't even remember this one but it's one of the few finished, I'm just starting to import these from Fanfiction dot net, so I thought I'd start there, sorry I'm not not being helpful in the slightest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-13 16:13:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16895850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/campbellxliz/pseuds/campbellxliz
Summary: Artemis has been best friends with Niklaus for centuries upon centuries and she gets along with most of the family, except for Kol. Kol and Arti do two things. They fight and they have sex. But when Kol is undaggered in the 21st century. Things between them begin to change. Kol/OC





	1. 1

I stood frozen in horror as Niklaus's siblings stabbed him each with a sliver dagger, causing him to cry out in pain. "Stop!" I hollered when I finally found my voice, inserting myself between Niklaus and his attackers.

Kol growled and threw me against the wall. My neck stepped back and the back of my head banged against the wood, disorienting me for a second. His forearm pressed against my throat and I could see the veins under his eyes as he barred his fangs. "This. Doesn't. Concern. You."

"Exactly. So let her go," Elijah intervened.

Kol let me off the wall, but only because Ester had entered the room; surprising all of the Mikaelson children. Niklaus looked terrified. I rubbed my throat, trying to massage out the pain. I was grateful to be released, but Kol kept one arm behind me, not sure if he was ready to let me go.

"Do you know why I'm here?" she asked Niklaus.

"You're here to kill me," he choked out.

She shook her head. "I'm here to forgive you."

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe she wanted to unite her family like Niklaus and Elijah had been fighting to do so for centuries. Ester always hated vampires like any good witch would. Kol gripped the back of my shirt, knotting the excess cloth into his fist and pulled me closer to him. When Ester had finished talking and dismissed her children, Kol picked me up and in a second I was on my back on my bed without even being introduced to Finn.

"Your mother is here," I giggled as he tore at my clothes.

"So we'll be quiet."

His hips grinded into mine and I ran my hands down his naked back and then began unbuttoning his pants. His lips trailed down my neck and I bit his. Vampire blood tasted sweeter to me than human blood. Though, Kol was the only vampire I ever blood-shared with. The warm liquid filled my mouth and I felt pain; the excruciating agony that he felt with a dagger in his heart. I felt his thirst and his hatred for Niklaus, his lust and love. Love. He pulled away from me.

"What the bloody hell?" he shouted.

I leaned up on my elbows. "What? We blood share all the time."

Kol buttoned his pants and put his shirt back on. "Leave me the fuck alone," he said before disappearing.

Fighting was all we did, but normally I at least had an orgasm before one of us ran off. For centuries all we did was fuck and try to kill each other; we couldn't stand one another. I sighed and put my own shirt back on before heading downstairs.

"They love each other, Finn," I heard Niklaus explaining.

"They'll kill each other before admitting it though," Bekka laughed.

"Kol and Arti will come around eventually, hopefully before it comes to murder," Elijah chimed in.

Great, they were all discussing my nonexistent relationship. I continued down the stairs and was noticed right away because they all immediately stopped talking. "Where is Kol?" Finn asked, concerned.

"Being a little bitch," I answered. Then I understood his concern. If he was pissed off, he could be murdering the entire town of Mystic Falls. And then I didn't understand his concern. We would just move, Mikael is currently desiccating; they're the fucking Originals. I shrugged.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I haven't read this in a long time so I remember how it ends, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. The warnings I gave may not even be right. But the more I look at it the more painfully obvious that I wrote this 4 years ago. I swear my writing is much better now. Anyway, let's enjoy this trip together.

**Recap:**

Great, they were all discussing my nonexistent relationship. I continued down the stairs and was noticed right away because they all immediately stopped talking. "Where is Kol?" Finn asked, concerned.

"Being a little bitch," I answered. Then I understood his concern. If he was pissed off, he could be murdering the entire town of Mystic Falls. And then I didn't understand his concern. We would just move, Mikael is currently desiccating; they're the fucking Originals. I shrugged.

Then I felt all the pain that Kol felt. All at once, it was overwhelming. I slapped Niklaus.

"What the bloody hell was that for?"

"I was fine when you daggered your family. Who cares? It's a temporary death, being vampires and all. But they weren't dead!" I cried. "They were desiccating. They felt everything! They were sentient the whole time." I wound up to hit him again.

He caught my wrist, first. "I didn't know. I swear to you I didn't know."

"How do you know?" Bekah asked.

"They blood-shared," Finn answered for me, slightly shocked.

Again, I shrugged. "It's a kink."

Niklaus brought the conversation back on track. "If I had known, I would not have done it. I am sorry," he apologized to his siblings.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
"A ball?" I asked appalled as I walked through the front door. Kol was having a tux fitting while Elijah and Finn also prepared their ensembles for tonight. "Niklaus, you're not going, right?"

"Of course not, because the first thing I am going to do when my mother whom I killed comes back from the dead is piss her off." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Kol chuckled. "I think you should wear something with a low back; that'd be sexy."

"Fuck off," I stormed upstairs, still mad about his sudden flight, and Bekah followed. I sat down on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands.

The blonde original offered me her hand. "Let's go. You need a dress and I need a date." She was right, but we left through my bedroom window to avoid the men.

I stood on a pedestal, surrounded by mirrors in the brightly lit room as an elderly woman fussed at the hem of my dress. It had long sleeves and no back. The bodice was a deep maroon with a sweetheart neckline and the sleeves were a sheer, slightly lighter tone of the same color that matched the tulle of skirt. I kept turning around and staring at my reflection. Kol was right about the exposed back being sexy, but I was so uncomfortable in the big skirt. I wasn't sure if I could walk, let alone dance.

"You're not seriously wearing what Kol wants you to?" Bekah asked. She had just gotten back from inviting her date to the ball.

"I hate dressing up. If I wear something he likes, it's only a matter of time before he takes it off me."

I watched the party from the open bar. Kol was being stuck up and rude as always and Niklaus was looking for someone, probably Caroline. His obsession with her was getting old. "Hello cutie," a voice interrupted my people watching.

I raised my eyebrows, annoyed. "What?" He was plain and too old to be hitting on a girl who was barely eighteen.

"Feisty," he grinned and then gasped in pain.

Kol had pinned the man's arm behind his back. "Normally, I'd kill you for hitting on my girl, but Mother said no one dies tonight. You better hope I never see you again." Kol let the man go, just as Elijah's voice called everyone to the foyer. The young Mikaelson smirked and I followed. All five of them, plus Esther stood on the staircase as though they were debutantes.

"You know, whenever my mother gathers our family together like this, it is tradition to commence the evening with a dance," Elijah announced.

I gagged.

"Tonight's dance is a centuries old waltz, so if you could please, find yourself a partner and join us in the ballroom," he finished and descended the stairs, followed by his family, except for Esther who returned upstairs.

I waited at the bottom of the staircase of Kol. He offered me his arm and I took it, letting him lead me onto the dance floor. "Why are you so grouchy?" he asked as we systematically spun around the room.

"You know I hate these events. And we never talked about..."

"Suck it up," he leaned in, deflecting my comment and breathing on my neck. "I'll have that dress off of you in a few hours."

When the part of the dance came where we changed partners, I twirled into Nik's arms. He watched Caroline laughing with Matt. "It's going to take a lot to overcome your own reputation," I told him.

"I know, but I like my reputation," he sighed.

"Here's something encouraging. She's more civil to you than I am to Kol."

Niklaus laughed, louder than I expected. "You're right, my dear Arti, that is encouraging."

One more rotation and the dance ended. I curtsied to my partner and he bowed, before Kol showed up and swept me away. I followed him around, watching the clock for him to make good on his promise and making sure my glass was never empty.

"Where's your date?" He asked Bekah.

She looked absolutely stunning, as always, in her dark green dress. I hated that she looked fabulous no matter what and I had to work so hard at it. "Flirting with his ex," she grimaced.

"You've changed, Bekah, you know settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness," he responded, kissing my temple.

"I'm not settling; I brought him here to kill him. He's Elena's friend. If he dies, she suffers." I leaned away from Kol, suddenly interested in the conversation. "But I've already been scolded once, I was hoping you could help your baby sister out," she said.

"And spit right in the face of Mother's rules?" Kol grinned. "I'm in."

I needed more friends. "You two have fun." I untangled myself from my date and moved seamlessly through the throngs of people. I had some snooping to do. I didn't dare go upstairs and be near Esther. Instead, I tried to listen in on Elijah's, Finn's, and the Salvatore's conversations. I had found in my many years that information was better than gold. But I didn't have a plan for spending it. I liked giving it away; it caused mischief. I ended up back at the bar which I found to be the perfect vantage point. The man who had hit on me before kept circling; he clearly wanted another drink, but was too scared to approach.

Kol appeared next to me just in time for Esther's toast. "Where have you been?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He didn't answer, instead his mother's voice filled the room. "Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in having a glass."

Kol downed his and I handed him mine. I hated champagne. He smirked the way he always did as we traded glasses, and then downed the second glass. "Have you seen Rebekah?" he asked.

"She's right over there."

He ran over to her, leaving me standing alone, but as soon as I saw they were arguing, I joined them.

"Don't be so predictable," he sneered at her.

"Leave her alone," I shoved him back and he grabbed my forearms, not breaking eye contact with his sister.

"Just leave him alone, okay?" she turned and left. I wanted to make sure she was alright, but Kol held me tight.

"As you wish," he whispered, but I was unsure whether he was saying it to me or to her and then he disappeared again.

I looked at the clock again. When exactly was a few hours? I was getting tired of the small talk. Niklaus was preoccupied with Caroline and I had no other friends in this town. Elijah wasn't much for conversation tonight either, he was too concerned that Esther was scheming behind their backs. I whole heartedly supported his theory, but there was nothing to be done right now. I jumped when I heard a body fall outside.

"What was that?" I asked running to the front doors with the rest of the Mikaelsons.

"Honestly, probably, Kol causing trouble," Elijah answered.

We all stood on the front stoop, Damon Salvatore staring us down. On the ground was a motionless Kol, his neck must have been broken. "Far be it for me to cause a problem," he said to Elena Gilbert and his brother Stefan and then turned and slowly walked away.

I sighed and did the same. I wasted an entire night. Upstairs in my room, I lifted up my arm and reached around to undo the zipper and get this hell of a dress off of me.

"I believe that is my job." Kol came up from behind me and did the honors.

The dress slid off me easily. I turned to face him wearing only my heels and underwear. He caressed my hip and leaned down to kiss me. It looked like Kol wasn't completely useless after all.


	3. 3

We remained cuddling naked and on top of the sheets. "Can I ask you whom else you have spread these sweet thighs for in the centuries I've been gone?"

"Don't ask questions you know the answers to." I never slept with anyone other than Kol. Every time a man even looked at me, Kol killed him. When he was gone, I was too busy enjoying being me to bring a man into it. I know for a fact Kol had never slept with anyone else either. I killed the girls he had kissed, too, even though most of his romantic endeavors were his form of manipulation. "What is it?" I asked. His face had changed.

"Just a bit thirsty," he answered.

"Well, I am right here," I offered and we began repeating last night's events, this time while Kol fed from my neck. Afterwards I watched him processes what he had felt through me. Then his hands shot out and gripped my throat, choking me, collapsing my airways.

"You are the reason Klaus daggered me the last time," he snarled.

My vision was interrupted with black patches and I knew I would soon lose consciousness. It was no use trying to explain that was an accident. I had a plan to rid us of Mary-Alice, the witch he had seduced into helping him kill Klaus. Of course, I couldn't let Niklaus die, but I was acting solely out of jealously and never meant for Niklaus to find out.

1890s-New Orleans

"Let me buy the lovely lady a drink."

"Not tonight, Kol." I backed away from him.

He reached up and touched the back of my cheek with his hand. "I wasn't really asking."

I slapped his hand away and he smirked. The bartender placed two drinks in front of us. He had already bought me a drink. "You are insatiable."

Kol grabbed my arm, keeping me from leaving. "That's part of my charm."

"Remove your hand, or lose it," I spoke calmly, fully intent on at least breaking his arm.

Kol acquiesced and let me leave the bar.

When I woke, Kol was gone and there was sun out of the window. I put on jeans and a tshirt. It was morning so I must have healed and then fallen back asleep. I made my way into the kitchen to make coffee and then joined the others in the living room. I sat on a couch across from Kol and next to Nik as he sketched. While they both looked handsome in a tux, I much preferred the boys in these, 21st century plainclothes. Kol didn't acknowledge me when I sat down and I silently thanked Satan because I really didn't want to listen to his voice. Yet that silence was broken when Rebekah returned.

"Well, well, well, there's our girl." He rose to greet her.

"Out of my way, Kol," she said exasperated.

"Out all night! What a scandal," he continued. "I trust you did better than that commoner. Matt, was it?"

Her upper lip curled. "If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth," she threatened.

I chuckled, glad that somebody was putting him back in his place and Niklaus was clearly too melancholy to do so.

"I'm bored," Kol flopped back down in his seat. And I saw flopped, but it was still graceful; another vampire perk. "Our sister is a strumpet, but at least she's having fun. I need entertainment." His eyes begged his older brother.

Apparently rolling around with me isn't fun. I scratched my nose with my middle finger, but Kol was still ignoring me.

"What are you waiting for? Go on, have at it," Niklaus responded, disinterested.

"It's no fun to go alone. Join me, Nik" he whined. "It's the least you can do after sticking a dagger in my heart."

I set down my coffee to prepare for an altercation. "Oh my god, are you five?"

Kol shot me a look, but said nothing.

"Alright," Niklaus agreed. "I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night with you trying to murder Rebekah's date and all."

"Good, leave us ladies in peace," I said.

"Oh, I'd hardly call you a lady," Kol returned.

I growled and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground and breaking his arm with a snap. "Don't test me."

I let him up and he planted a kiss on my lips. "You always let me believe you were a bottom," he announced making my cheeks burn.

I couldn't even say that we were a pendulum because both feelings of rage and lust occurred at once. I brought my coffee to the kitchen, dumped it in the sink, and poured myself some whiskey. I sat back down as Finn was passing through the room. "Where are you headed?" I asked.

"To meet Mother. Where are my siblings?" He asked, straightening his tie.

"Uh, Bekah is somewhere in the house. No idea about Eli, and Nik and Kol went for a drink," I listed them off, using my fingers to count.

He looked at the glass of whiskey in my hand. "Why are you not out drinking with them?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Are you encouraging the destruction of the bar?" it was as if he didn't notice that the only times Kol and I spoke we were arguing or he was being a genuine asshat.

He smiled. I had only known him for forty-eight hours, but it was the first time he didn't seem deadly serious. Then without a goodbye, he left.

"Arti!" Bekah called. "Elijah has a task for us."

No questions were asked. I picked up the whiskey bottle and left the house with her; anything to keep myself busy.

"Really?" she looked at the bottle.

"I'm trying really hard not to kill your brother."

The sun was beginning to set as it does so early in the winter when we met Elijah in the old cavern. He was guarding Elena Gilbert. Last night, Esther had linked all of the siblings together and Finn was going to kill himself and therefore kill them all. Elena was our leverage to get the Salvatores to take Esther out. Elijah filled us in on the situation. "If I don't call before 915. Kill her. I need to find Kol and Niklaus."

I looked at Elena and barred my fangs. I never cared for the Petrovas. This was going to be fun. I approached her, and she shrank away.

"Arti, you can't touch her," Bekah sighed.

"I'm not going to kill her!" I protested. "Just play a bit."

Bekah pulled me back and then dropped to the ground. Her skin was turning gray as it did when Niklaus put her in a coffin. I panicked, fearing Esther had succeed. Elena took my moment of weakness to run. I stood there for only a second longer before running after her. She ran, so that meant I could kill her. I followed her scent through the convoluted tunnels.

When I found her, I was blocked by a boundary spell. There were unlit candles all over place and I noticed some art above Elena's head. It seemed to talk about Niklaus's family, but I couldn't decipher most of it. "You're dead," I growled.

"Don't waste your energy, luv. Just because vampires can get in, doesn't mean she can't get out." Rebekah had healed and found us. She threw a liquid across the boundary, dousing Elena in what smelled strongly of gasoline.

"You deal with her," I decided. "I'm going to check on the boys."


	4. 4

It turns out they were in the cemetery, of course. Where else would a big spell go down? Finn was going to sacrifice himself, the bastard. As we approached, an orange light from torches made Esther seem to glow. She and Finn both stood inside a pentagram of salt so none of us could get close. They flames grew larger and more violent when we tried.

"That's lovely," Kol said. "We're stuck out here while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn."

"Be quiet, Kol," Esther sneered. She no longer needed to pretend like she was a mother, now that her plan had been revealed. "Finn knows virtue you cannot imagine."

Elijah parried. "Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity."

"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago." Damn, she was cold.

"Enough," now Niklaus spoke. "All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to hell."

"For a thousand years I was forced to watch, felt the pain of every victim…" I tuned out her soliloquy. The bitch wanted to kill Niklaus and Elijah, my family.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _1100s-Europe_

Niklaus was my escort to his own birthday celebration. We had been friends for several decades, but I had yet to meet his younger brother and sister.

"Artemis, I would like to introduce my younger brother, Kol," Niklaus said.

A miniature version of Elijah broke from the crowd and bowed politely. "It is an honor to meet such an exquisite beauty." He kissed the top of my hand.

I laughed as I always did when men tried to court me. They always tried too hard when all I wanted was to feed from them. "I'm sorry, I meant no offense," when I realized I had laughed in the face of Niklaus's family.

"None taken," Kol said as he straightened up, although I clearly had offended him.

"I guess it would be fruitless to ask you for this dance," he asked as the music in the hall started back up.

"I don't dance." I sat at the table in the Great Hall of the drafty castle in front of the turkey carcass that had previously been the center of the feast. Another man approached, but I turned him down as well. I had been completely honest in my rejection of Kol. I hated fancy gowns and I hated dancing. I glanced over to where the Mikaelsons were conversing and saw Kol watching and grinning as I sent the other man away.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
I moved to stand in line with the three vampires and slipped my hand into Kol's.

The Bennett witches must have been stopped because as Esther spoke her spell, her power began to wane. "Sisters!" she cried out. "Do not abandon me!" The flames from the torches rose up uncontrollably, threatening to burn us all. Kol bent over me, protecting me from the fire as Nik and Elijah also turned their backs, unable to look at the brightness they gave off. When the torches went out, Esther and Finn had gone. Without a word, the four of us returned to the house where we met Rebekah.

I sat on the living room sofa, saying nothing, looking at no one. I know Kol wanted to leave, but I had spent the last thousand years with Niklaus and with his family leaving, he would need me even more. Kol appeared before me with a duffel bag in each hand, one held over his shoulder and the other dangling by his side. "We're leaving," he said.

"I need to pack."

He tossed the duffel by his side onto the couch next to me. "No need."

Foiled. "Kol, I can't go. Niklaus is going to be all alone." I also couldn't imagine that Kol had forgiven me for Mary-Alice so quickly. It would make him a hypocrite, but we were both impulsive people.

"Do you want to go with me?" he asked, picking up my bag again.

I stood up, closing the space between us. "Don't ask questions you know the answer to."

He left and I went to find Niklaus he was burning sketches I thought must have been of Caroline. "You're leaving then," he said. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before you two worked it out."

"Yeah, a total of five hundred years," I tried to laugh.

"Finn wanted to lock the two of you in a room until you stopped arguing."

I shrugged. "That could have killed him. Still might."

"That's what I told him; that you'd come out with his heart literally in your hand. I'm not sure if he understood that you were older and stronger than us."

"Now he never will. I'm going to miss you." I wrapped my arms around Niklaus's waist and buried my face in his chest.

He embraced me as well. "I will see you again soon, sweetheart. Please don't kill my little brother."

"I won't," I sniffed. Niklaus and I had become nearly inseparable. On some nights when I questioned my existence, Niklaus let me crawl into bed with him, and now I was running away.

Kol was waiting for me in a running car. It was a black jeep with tinted windows that I had never seen before so I had no clue where he had stolen it from. I climbed into the passenger's seat, dying to kill someone. "Just drive," I commanded before he could say anything.


	5. 5

It was a cross country road trip; one of those where you keep reminding yourself that the journey is more important than the destination. On the second day, we were stuck in RT 66 traffic and the idea of tearing someone's heart out became increasingly appealing. "Why are we running?"

"To escape Niklaus's constant power-mongering and consist attempts to kill me," he laughed. "And Elijah trying to make me a good person."

I shook my head at him. "You're being foolish. They act that way because they care!"

"I really wish they didn't."

"They're your family! You should be grateful that you have one!" I huffed and turned away from him.

He sighed and pulled over to the shoulder. "Alright. Let's have at it then. Why are you so bitter? Missing Klaus? You chose to come with me, luv."

"Really, Kol? I hadn't noticed. I had a family once; a father who despised me a long, long time ago. Finally I found Nik and he made me his family. So, sorry for feeling guilty about abandoning him."

"You know you belong with me. Nik will forgive you." Sometimes I really hated his cocky attitude. Elijah exuded confidence, but Kol took it to another level of narcissism. "Wait, I know you're ancient, but how old are you? How were you even made?"

"Start driving and I'll think about telling you."

An hour passed and I finally spoke. "My father's name was Cain and we despised each other. I didn't have a morality and he fought so strongly to do the right thing for God."

"I think I'm the first human to become a blood-thirsty beast. But not all vampires are created the same way. Silas was created from a magic potion made by the woman who loved him; your mother figured out a blood magic spell. I never sired anyone, but you and your family sired all the current vampires. Apparently no one sired Dracula either. The stories say that an occult order cursed him."

"That's all well and good, luv, but if you're stronger than me, you must be older. How'd you turn?" Kol interrupted.

I shrugged because I knew what I was about to say would sound insane, but I knew it was true. "I made a deal with the devil."

Kol wouldn't look at me. I was pretty sure he didn't know if he believed me.

It was the third day of aimlessly driving West and I had been making Kol spend the night in motels because I still exploit the idea of a warm shower. It was by far the best thing that humans had ever done and I still wasn't used to it.

"What's wrong?" he looked over at me; I hadn't said a word since we got back on the road.

"I'm dying of thirst and we haven't past a town in ages," I grumbled.

He rolled his eyes. "You can't die."

"Hasn't stopped you from trying."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
1340ish

"You are insufferable," Kol told me.

"Because you are so concerned with the thousands of dying people," I scoffed.

Kol placed one of his hands under my jaw, threatening to break my neck by turning his wrist by only a centimeter. "Don't be trite, luv. I at least have the common sense not to make a spectacle of my family."

"A lion does not run from the sheep." With two well-placed blows, I freed myself from Kol.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Here," he pulled his shirt farther away from his neck. "Just to tide you over."

I scooted closer to him and bit into his neck. I immediately relaxed as the sweet, warm liquid filled my mouth and he did too. He was worried, but entangled with his pain and memories, the love was still there. When I pulled away, I began to worry that when he fed from me next, he would figure out how this road trip was beginning to change me; I used to never think about the past.

Kol's phone rang, and I reached out to answer it. "Niklaus, is everything alright?"

"Arti!" he was surprised, perhaps he thought Kol and I had gotten into another fight and I was on my way back to Mystic Falls. "I need the two of you to get to Denver. Elena has evacuated her brother there and I might need leverage. Call me when you find him. But don't touch." He hung up as soon as he finished barking out orders.

"Nice talking to you too," I said into the phone although there was no one on the other end to hear me.

"Really?" Kol said. "We're running errands for him now."

I replaced my feet on the dashboard and leaned back in my seat. "Just drive. Wake me up when there are people to eat."

He woke me up when we arrived at a motel. "It's only a mile outside of the city, but we'll find a real place in a couple days, alright?"

I nodded, still a little drowsy from my nap and fixated on the burning on the back of my throat. I never bothered to learn to control my hunger. I fed and killed when I where I wanted for as long as I could remember.

I threw my bag on the single bed and made to leave, prepared to hunt.

Kol dropped his bag where he stood, and remained blocking the doorway. "I've got a better idea, luv," he leaned down and kissed me. Slowly at first and then rougher. His tongue slipped into my mouth and he pinned me against the wall. I kissed him back, deeply, running my hands all over his body. If he was able to control his thirst, so could I. I had, in fact, fed more recently. His hand made its way between my thighs and he began rubbing me through my jeans. I moaned as his kisses trailed down my neck. Without warning, his fangs pierced my skin and after a moment of pain I felt the euphoria of his vampire venom.

After we each finished, he released me from against the wall and my knees buckled. I reached out to him to steady myself. "Just like old times, luv," he gave me his lopsided grin and kissed my nose.

"Some things never change." I buttoned my pants and flattened out my hair while he also put himself back together. "Want to get dinner?"  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Luv, you need to calm down; you nearly tore her head off," Kol reprimanded me as we fed.

"Since when did Kol Mikaelson worry about rules?"

He retained his fangs, trying to intimidate me. "If we leave bodies lying around, Jeremy will find us before we find him. And I really don't fancy having a dagger stuck in my heart and rotting in a coffin."

"You think I'd let that happen to you?" I had fooled myself into thinking we might not end up killing each other.

"Last time, you helped!"

That was a low blow. Just because I never pulled the daggers out, didn't mean I wished pain upon them. "Just stay away from me." I wiped the blood off my face with the back of my sleeve and ran off into the night.


	6. 6

In all my years, I had never been to Colorado, I always preferred Europe or the East Coast, although Santa Monica wasn't bad. When I left, I wasn't thinking about going back to Mystic Falls, I just didn't want to see Kol's face. I passed a teenager tagging a sign that said, "Welcome to Auroa. Population: 345,803"

"He sweetie," he whistled as I walked by.

In a flash, I was tearing out his throat. When I was satisfied, I let the body drop. I picked up the can of spray paint and changed the sign to say 802.

My phone rang as I made my way further into town, Elijah's face appearing on the screen. "Can I speak to Kol?" He asked as soon as I picked up.

"I'm not with him right now."

"Oh- Oh, Niklaus told me that you had been answering his phone, so I thought I would just call you," he explained. "What happened?"

"I needed space," I admitted. "I promised Niklaus that I wouldn't kill Kol."

"I'll call back later," Elijah said. "I just really need to speak with my brother."

He didn't call back and I spend the next couple of days draining bars and vagrants. When I had had my vampire fun, I found that Kol and left the motel, but also left an address with the motel manager for me to find him. I rang the doorbell of the townhouse I had been directed to and waited. A young, plain man, maybe about thirty, answered the door.

"Hi, I'm Arti?"

"Oh, come in!" He stepped aside and I walked past him into the house. "Kol is upstairs."

The stairs creaked under my weight and I waited for Kol to greet me, a smug look on face since I had returned. "Why aren't you gloating that I came back?" I called out.

"I'm in here, luv. Now is not the time for boasting."

I entered the room his voice came from at top speed. He was sitting on the floor with his knees up to his chin. I knelt down in front of him. "What happened?"

"Well, Jeremy thinks I'm his friend. And just now I received a call from your favorite Original. It would appear that Finn is dead." Finn was the most estranged brother, but I could see the hurt in Kol's face.

I leaned forward pushed back the hair that had begun to fall onto his forehead. I couldn't find the words to express my sympathy, so I leaned in closer and gave him a soft peck on the lips. He kissed me back and reached up to caress my face. His lips pressed harder against mine until he was on top of me and I was laying with my back on the carpeted floor. He had never been gentle with me before and it was strange, but I still enjoyed it.

The next morning, my first thoughts were that this was the bedroom Kol had claimed and he was not laying naked beside me. Instead he stood at the foot of the bed, dressed in jeans, tshirt, and a hoodie. "Well you can't lay there all day, luv. We've got work to do."

"What work?"

"We're going to kill Jeremy Gilbert," he grinned.

I was out of the bed and dressed in seconds. "What happened? When did Niklaus call?"

Kol laughed, a bit manically. "Oh, did I forget to mention it last night?" The laughs turned into a snarl, "Alaric was the one to kill Finn."

I deigned to wait in the car because this was Kol's fight. I sat with my bare feet on the dash, but as I sat with the window down, there was a smell I recognized, but couldn't quite name. I couldn't recall who it was. I slipped my feet back into my shoes and went to find Kol. "Why does everything you do take forever?" I grumbled. I walked into the batting cages where he was supposed to meet and kill Jeremy. Instead, I found Kol on the ground, face down with a piece of wood sticking through his gut. I gripped the blood soaked wood and pulled it through the rest of the way and I heard him gasp for breath. I rolled him over and he coughed a few times.

"Get off me." He pushed me away as I tried to help him up.

"Fine, next time I'll leave you dying."

Kol took out his phone and dialed Niklaus's number. "How did you not see them?" he asked me while the phone rang.

"See who? I wasn't exactly looking for hunters!" I stopped as it occurred to me, and Kol kept walking. It was Elena and the Salvatores.

"How's your friend doing, little brother?" I heard Niklaus's voice on the other end of the line.

"Gone. Elena and Damon were here."

"And you didn't stop them?" Niklaus hissed.

Kol laughed harshly. "It was a little hard with a stake in me."

I took the phone, trying to prevent things from getting nasty between the two of them. "So what do you want us to do, Niklaus?"

"They're tracking their bloodline so they can find out which of us they can kill. They know about Laura, the next would be Mary. Find her. Take her out of the equation."

We climbed back into the jeep and I hoped it wasn't going to be a long ride. "Where is Scary Mary?" I asked.

"Kansas." I swear he was laughing at me beneath that frown.

"No stops. I need to kill something."

"Why don't we get along?" Kol grinned.

I closed my eyes and put my feet up on the dash. "Don't ask questions you know the answers to."

Mary's house was large for anyone to live in alone. Kol went inside first, with no living resident we could walk right in. "Mary!" He called out. "Oh, Mary!"

"Kol," she giggled and went to hug him.

"Back off, bitch," I threw her across the room.

The veins under her eyes appeared and an animalistic sound came from her throat as she pounced.

"Is that all you've got?" I caught her by the arm and with a sickening snap, broke it in half.

She clawed at me and tried to bite, but I kicked her in the chest, knocking her down. I took that time to break the leg off of a chair for a stake. When she came at me again, I pierced her heart with the length of wood. I gently laid her down, watching to make sure she was truly dead.

"Whore," she coughed and then the life left her.

I brushed myself off and looked at Kol who had been smirking the whole time. "I've always wanted to have beautiful women fight over me."

I ignored him. "What should we do with the body?"

"I have an idea." He removed the stake and moved her to stand against the wall. Then, he ran the stake through her again with more force, pinning her there like a crucifixion.

We sat in the darkened house, waiting for the Damon and Elena to catch up and find Mary's body. "Remember Nik needs Elena alive," Kol reminded me.

"I know," I sighed. "It really puts a damper on my fun."

We fell silent when we heard a car pull up in front of the house. There were three people in the car, but only Damon and Elena exited. I surmised that the third was Jeremy. They bumbled through the dark house and I bit my own hand to keep from laughing. Eventually, they made their way upstairs to the room where we waited, no idea of our presence. Elena's flashlight scanned the room and she jumped when she saw Mary pinned to the wall.

"Mary," Damon grimaced.

"Quite contrary," Kol grinned, picking up the aluminum baseball bat he took with him from the batting cages. "Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast." He made his way between the body and the couple and I remained guarding the back entrance. "I don't know what happened to her, must have been all the time she spent with my family. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And were you her favorite?" Elena asked, trying to be brave.

"If that were true, she'd have been dead a long time ago. But I think I did turn her. Or wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also the Klaus period, and let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother. I know you're trying to find out who you're descended from. Now you never will." He tapped the bat on the ground like he was in a game. "So, where did we leave off?" He took a swing at Damon, knocking him to the ground. Then another, and another.

"Elena," Damon groaned, "Get out of here."

She made a move to run, but I blocked her way. "Nik said you're off limits, but I'm not so good at following orders. Don't test me." I threw her back across the room.

"Don't touch her!" Damon rushed to her defense.

Kol stopped him with another swing of the bat. "Have we hit a nerve? Relax, darling, I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck. You killed my brother. Then you humiliated me." The sound of crunching bones and flesh against metal permeated the air. "There, now we're even," he grinned. "C'mon, luv." He held out his hand for me and I took it.

I was glad that we were free to leave Denver. Perhaps I could get the family to move back to Europe and let sleeping dogs lie.


	7. 7

"You haven't put your phone down in hours. Who the bloody hell are you texting?" Kol asked as he sped along the highway.

"Jealous?" I teased, but he only glared at me. "Fine, I'm speaking with Niklaus. It turns out that Mystic Falls has become a battle zone. I think we need to go back."

He clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. "You can go back, but I have no interest in helping Klaus with anything. If he has gotten himself into trouble, he can get himself out of it."

I reached over and took the steering wheel, yanking it towards me and causing him to swerve off the road.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled, reaching out to strangle me.

"In the weeks that we have been gone, your mother has died, Niklaus has desiccated, Elijah returned and left, Alaric died, Elena is a vampire, the Order of the Five is back, and Jeremy Gilbert is one of them!" I shouted.

"I hate when you're right," he let me go and merged back onto the highway.

"Get used to it, mate."

I knocked on the door to Niklaus's mansion and then let myself in. "Hello, brother!" Kol called. "Still terrorizing the town?"

Niklaus didn't answer, but I found him in the living room. His white dress shirt was soaked in blood and he was staggering drunk. He was surrounded by empty bottles of liquor and still held one in his hand. "Ah the prodigal daughter returns," he slurred at me.

"Niklaus! What happened?" I pried the bottle out of his and lowered him onto the couch where I sat next to him. "Whose blood is this?"

"They turned on me. I had no choice," his eyes began to water. "I have no one left. Rebekah moved out, Elijah and Kol have abandoned me, and I am the only hybrid."

I gathered him into his arms and he rested his head on my chest. "It's going to be alright, Nik. You've got me. Let's get you cleaned up."

Sometime between our arrival and the time I was able to get Nik to stand back up, Kol had disappeared, but I wasn't concerned. He would come back.

"What's this?" I asked, showing him a flyer for a candle vigil for Carol Lockwood.

"Oh, yes. Tyler forced me to kill my hybrids; I killed his mother for retribution."

He was completely ignoring the consequences of those actions, but far be it from me to point out that Caroline would probably never speak to him again. Also when she was in office we had a mayor who wasn't trying to exterminate vampires.

I woke up the next morning curled in a ball, facing Nik. "How are you feeling?" I asked. In the middle of the night, he wandered into my room asking for company. I thought it would be better to sleep in his bed because I didn't think he'd appreciate sheets that his naked brother was on.

"I feel like I should get back to being an apathetic, all-powerful, hybrid," he answered.

"Good answer." I rolled out of the bed. "I'm going to hunt down your little brother. Hopefully he's trying to raze this town to the ground."

He wasn't. I found him downstairs eating a steak in the kitchen. "Do you have time for me now, or would you rather crawl back in bed with my brother?" he asked.

"Why do you have to act like a child, Kol?" I sighed.

"I've picked you as my girl, luv, you just haven't figured out how to deal with it yet." His phone, sitting on the counter, buzzed. "Hold that thought, luv."

"Kol, I hear, you're back in Mystic Falls." It was Rebekah. "I need a favor."

"Why not? What are you up to?"

While he was speaking, I stole a piece of steak off of his plate which earned me his killer glare. "I need you to go to Whitmore College and find a guy called Professor Shane. Then, bring him to the high school- alive." She stressed the last word. "I'm getting answers and revenge."

"One more bite and I'll snap your neck," Kol threatened me when he hung up. "Let's go."

"We just got back," I whined, but I stood up anyway. "I'm going out, Niklaus. Call me if you need anything," I called, but received no answer. "She can be pathetically petty," I mumbled as I climbed into Kol's car.

"That's my baby sister you're talking about," Kol growled at me. "Watch it."

If Whitmore was any further then I probably would have opted out. I was getting pretty sick of sitting in a car with Kol. "So who is this Professor Shane?" I asked.

"I'd like to find out myself."

"Come in," Shane called when we knocked on his office door.

I opened the wooden door to find a dark haired, scruffy man sitting at desk and pouring over books. "Professor Shane?" I asked.

"Yes?" he smiled up at me.

"Wonderful." Kol appeared by his side and smashed his face into the desk; it was pretty smooth. Kol picked up Shane's unconscious body and we ran back to the car, carelessly tossing him in the back seat. Kol started up the car and then took a second to look at me. "You don't get why he's important either, right?"

I nodded. "Let's just get him to Rebekah."

He screamed when he woke up. "Vampires!"

"Observant," I commented. "Stay quiet; I'm not the one who agreed not to kill you."

"Who are you?" he persisted.

Kol laughed. "Oh, mate, you don't ask Artemis who she is."

I turned around to look at Shane. His eyes widened in both fear and wonder. So he had heard of me. "You- You're not real! You're a ghost story. They say Lucifer fed you his blood!" He laughed hysterically.

"I assure you; I'm very real." I showed my fangs.

Kol reached over and squeezed my hand and Shane wet himself.


	8. 8

We found Bekah in the high school library, like she said, hosting her powwow. "Sister," Kol greeted. "Look at this, you're even worse than Klaus." Compelled not to leave a table were Stefan, Elena, and Caroline.

"Kol, finally, did you bring what I asked for?"

I escorted the dark-haired professor into the room, hoping she wanted to kill him because he had been a pain in the ass during the car ride.

"You must be Shane," she smiled gently. "Arti, would you mind babysitting?"

"You want them alive, right?"

Bekah sighed. "Obviously. I'll owe you one."

I pulled up my own chair to the round table and shooed away Bekah and Kol. "So what did you guys do to Bekah to piss her off so badly?"

"Nothing! She's crazy." Caroline protested.

"See, I actually, don't want to kill you because I care about Niklaus, but don't lie," I told her. "Kol and I are the ones who kill for no reason. Bekah actually cares."

Then Elena tried to speak, but I shushed her. "I need to listen. I want to know if they're killing Shane."

"Where's the cure?" I heard Bekah ask.

"Compulsion won't work," came the reply. Kol could have told her that, but I guess he failed to mention it. "A little trick I picked up in Tibet."

"Right, well, we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way."

"Shut up," I growled at Elena who was whispering to Stefan. "I love blood and violence, and while they're torturing your friend; I have somehow agreed not to kill all of you." I was beginning to get pissed. The best part of being a vampire was exerting power over everyone else and I was being excluded.

Bekah returned. "Still glued to your seats?"

"Have fun," I told her as I stood up. "If you don't mind I think I'll join Kol. I won't kill him." I put my hands up showing I surrendered to her ways.

"Ah, come to join the fun, luv?" Kol asked, holding Shane's head underwater. "Where's the cure?" he asked, but Shane only spluttered and Kol was forced to put his head back in the water. Kol repeated this process; each time it was funnier as Shane began looking increasingly like a drowned rat.

Rebekah returned to check on us, but Shane hadn't given anything up. "You're human, why do you want it anyway?" she asked.

"You can have it!" he gasped. "I just want Silas."

Kol grabbed Shane by the collar and held him there. "What do you know about Silas?" he hissed.

"He's the world's first immortal being that happens to be imprisoned with the cure and I wanna free him."

I coughed, loudly. I remembered when Silas happened, but I never met the man and I had no idea how much of the stories were true; only that I happened first.

"You're wrong; Arti's came before Silas." Kol dunked Shane back under the water, fully intent on drowning him this time.

"Stop!" Bekah forced Kol to let him up. "He's of no use dead."

"Did you not hear what he said? Silas will kill us all, sister."

"Silas does not exist. He's a fairytale made up to scare children into eating their vegetables," she countered.

"Actually I don't know how much of the legends are true, but he did exist and he did take an immortality potion," I interrupted. "I hope it wasn't for love; that'd be pathetic."

Shane coughed some of the water out of his lungs. "Silas is very real. I know where he's buried, and soon I'll have the spell that wakes him," he said, still hunched over the sink.

"Wait a second, you're lying. You can't get to him!" Kol accused.

"Without his tomb stone? Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice?" Shane spoke and I watched the dread spread over Kol's face. "Believe me, I know. I've done it. Those massacres are a pain to engineer."

My eyes widened. If what he was saying was true, they could all be in some serious trouble.

"You're the one who got the council blown up," Bekah said.

Finally beginning to stand up, Shane pushed his wet hair out of his face. "It was a noble sacrifice and temporary because once I release Silas, Silas will raise the dead."

Kol touched my arm and motioned to the metal piping that was leaning against the wall. Silently I picked one up and handed it to him. He was no longer the mischief-loving Kol, but a killer with a mission and I liked him better this way.

"He will bring back every last soul who died on his behalf," Shane continued.

"No!" Kol yelled and stabbed the man in the gut. The man fell to the ground, clutching the pipe extruding from his abdomen.

Bekah growled at her brother; I had never seen her this angry and I thought she might try to kill him.

"You should thank me," he told her.

"You killed my only chance at finding the cure!" she cried.

"Silas on the loose would be hell on earth," he tried to explain. "Frankly sister, I don't think you could handle it." He reached inside to his inner jacket pocket and pulled out the preserved white oak stake that we had been told Esther had made.

"How'd you get that?" Bekah asked what I had been thinking.

Kol grinned. "Way too easily," he walked out, not bothering to threaten his sister.

I followed after Bekah had gone. I didn't like the idea of Kol having that stake. He hated Niklaus more than his other siblings and I wouldn't put it past him to try and use it.

"We have to find Jeremy," he said.

I grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking away. "Right now? I was hoping we could just go home and make out."

He put that arm around me and kissed my lips, sliding his tongue into my mouth. I kissed back, clinging to his shirt like a teenage girl. He pulled away after a couple minutes. "Help me find Jeremy and I'll kiss you in other places."

"You know me too well."

"Of course, luv, we blood-share," he chuckled.

It had been the two of us alone in the house all day. Kol wanted to find Jeremy to stop him from completing the map to Silas, but didn't explain this to anyone. I know he was keeping quiet because Nik actually wanted to find the cure. Kol dialed Nik's number into my phone and handed it back.

"I don't want to be involved in your plot against him," I said as the phone rang. "Niklaus, where have you been?" I asked when he answered.

"Hunter training camp." He sounded grumpy. "Damon is supposed to be helping Jeremy complete his mark, but Jeremy has yet to kill a single vampire," Nik hissed.

"And you're going to change that?" I pried, Kol listening in.

Niklaus's voice changed quickly. "As a matter of fact. I turned the whole town; all twenty of them. His only choice is to kill them, or let his friends die. I have to go. I'll see you soon, sweetheart."

Kol clapped his hand. "Remote location; impossibly tiny town. No problem."

"They're probably at the Gilbert lake house," I told him. "Why are you so vehement about this?"

"Because no one else is going to stop it. And I like living." I don't think I had ever seen him be more serious, about anything. "So are you in?"

"Don't-"

"-ask questions I know the answers to," he finished my sentence and we headed up to the lake.

It was easy to find them. There was only one public building around the lake and since it was daytime, they had to be indoors to hide from the sun. It had been a slaughter. It was more work afterwards, moving the bodies into the walk-in refrigerator.


	9. 9

Damon and Jeremy inspected the pile of bodies, confused by the situation. “I confess, I did it.” Kol entered the room, hands up. 

“And I might have helped.” I appeared behind him.”

Jeremy raised his crossbow, not sure who to point it at. “Kol?”

“Jeremy, good to see you, mate,” Kol grinned. “Sorry about the mess, it was a little crowded when we arrived. I prefer more intimate gatherings. We three need to have chat.” He took a swing out of the bottle of bourbon he was holding. “Care for a drink?”

“Three?” Damon raised his eyebrows. “Artemis makes four.”

I put my hands up the way I would surrender. “I am not getting involved. I am here merely to spectate. I won’t touch either of you.”

“He’s under age. And I don’t like you, so let’s just cut to it,” Damon said. 

“You know my brother bragged about his plan to complete Jeremy’s hunter’s mark. It was easy enough to track this lot down. They were all hiding in the shadows. You know, killing young vampires is easy; or old ones for that matter,” Kol threatened Damon’s beautiful ice blue eyes.

“Why? What’s it to you either way?” the other vampire asked. 

Kol grew angry. “Because, you fools, in your zeal to find the cure you risk waking someone very dangerous.

“Oh, you must be talking about Silas,” Damon gave us a lopsided grin.

“What do you know about Silas?” I asked. 

“Nothing. Don’t want to. Not our problem,” Damon replied.

Kol bit back a laugh. “Isn’t it? A few hundred years back I came across a group that worshiped Silas. His followers told me that he would rise again and when he did, he would trigger the end of all Time. You know, being an immortal, you can see why I’m opposed to Time’s ending. So I murdered all of them and now here you are, willing to risk raising him in your search for the cure. I can’t exactly sit back and let that happen, can I?”

“We’re not gonna back off the cure because you were told to many bedtime stories, you idiot,” Damon sneered.

“Silas is real,” I spat in his face. 

Kol pushed Damon back. “Jeremy, we were mates in Colorado. You’re a smart lad. Why don’t you call off this imbecilic treasure hunt?”

“Not calling anything off, mate,” Jeremy said from behind his crossbow. 

“Well, I could kill you,” Kol deliberated. “But then I’d have to deal with the hunter’s curse and I don’t- I don’t particularly feel like being haunted for the next century. Better idea: I’ll just rip off your arms.” 

Kol rushed Jeremy, but Damon was able to get in between them. “Run!” he commanded Jeremy and punched Kol. 

Kol caught the third punch and was able to turn Damon around and place him in a headlock, effectively snapping his neck.

I rushed to him and began playing with the hem of his shirt. “You impeded Jeremy completing the mark. Now pay attention to me.”

“Oh I want to, luv, but not quite yet,” he removed me from himself. He sat Damon on top of a keg and waited for him to wake up. When he did, Kol handed him a plank of wood. “Stab yourself,” he compelled Damon. “But not far enough for it to pierce your heart.”

Kol looked at his ringing phone. “It’s Klaus.”

“Little brother,” Niklaus said. “Just two days home and I’m told you already made a mess.”

“Come on, Nik, I was only having some fun.”

“Well you’ve had your fun,” Nik responded. “Now let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble or you’ll find yourself back in a box.”

“He is threatening daggering you, again?” I laughed when Kol had hung up the phone.

Kol shrugged. “Very good, darling,” he turned back to Damon. “Now stab yourself a little bit further.

“If you’re gonna kill me, do it like a man,” Damon pissed.

“I don’t want to kill you. I just want to make sure you can be compelled.”

I was getting bored. I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his temple. “I’m going for a walk,” I told him. “Come find me when you’re done playing.”

It wasn’t long after that Kol joined me. I bet he gloated it a bit and then let him go. “I compelled him to kill Jeremy,” he whispered grinning, and then kissed me. Soon I was pinned up against a tree; his hand down my pants. 

My body was covered in chills. “Kol,” I moaned and I could feel him grin into my collarbone. 

He finished inside of me and let me bite his neck. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer as I fed. “We should leave Mystic Falls. Start over somewhere; settle. After we stop my brother, of course.”

In the next town over, Kol compelled a man to let us stay in his home. That is where I was camped out when Kol disappeared and reappeared with Niklaus’s set of silver daggers. “I know you said you wouldn’t get involved, but can you at least keep these away from my brother?” he asked. 

“Well, I did promise not to let you get daggered again.” I kissed his nose. “Come to bed with me. We might actually have to talk.”  
He was the little spoon and I rested my forehead on his back as I spoke. “How many pairs of mates amongst vampires have you known?”

“None,” he answered. “Besides us.”

“Exactly. It doesn’t happen; not often anyway. But being mates doesn’t always mean being in love. Some mates love forever, some only a part of a century, and some not at all,” I began. “The last set of mates I ran into were in New Orleans; and they were platonic, I think. The one was from 1400s France, a beautiful, flaming bisexual. He turned the other, Louis, a 1700s plantation owner. I don’t think Louis ever loved his sire, but I’m sure his mate was in love with him for a century.”

Kol turned around to face me. “So what are you trying to tell me, luv?”

“Just that I’m not going to be your girlfriend. And there’s no pressure for you to be my boyfriend.”

He woke me up as he was leaving, only a few hours later.

“Where are you going?” I asked as he ran out of the house, still putting his shirt on. 

“I’ve got to go see a Bennett witch about not raising Silas,” he called over his shoulder.

“Slow down!” I yelled at him. “You’re going to get yourself killed.


	10. 10

“Can I come in?” I heard Niklaus’s voice at the front door. 

“Uh, I- I don’t know you,” the man stammered.

“He can come in!” I called.

“Please, come inside,” the man echoed. 

Niklaus entered and found me in the living room. “Artemis, sweetheart,” he kissed my cheek. “Can we talk?”

I sat down on the sofa and pulled him down next to me. I reclined across the entirety of the couch, placing my legs over Niklaus so his hands had to rest on my bent knees. “If you tell me how you found us.”

“Kol is avoiding us, not hiding,” he grinned. “But why are you helping Kol undermine me?”

“I’m not helping him,” I shrugged. “I’m just not helping you.”

“You’re betraying me!” He yelled, closing the space between us. 

I held his face in my hands. “He’s my mate!” I growled back. “You are my best friend. Elijah; he is more than a brother, but Kol is my mate. If he is willing to risk everything to prevent Silas from waking, I have a duty to see him through it.”

Nik kissed the top of my knee. “I wouldn’t wish such a fate on my worst enemies.” He picked up my legs and moved them so he could stand. “Be warned, Kol must pay for his betrayal and I would hate it if you got in the way.”

“Consider me warned, but you’re not getting the daggers.”

“Well,” he smiled. “it was worth a shot.”

After he left, I left too, headed towards The Grille for a drink. I saddled up to the bar and the pretty Matt Donovan poured me a drink. 

“Where have you been?” Kol joined me a couple drinks later. 

“Calm down. I just wanted some fresh air. How’d it go with Bonnie?” I whispered. 

He ordered a bottle of bourbon from Matt. “Well, she didn’t kill me,” he grimaced. “That was her mistake.”

I sighed. “You don’t listen to me.” I signaled Matt to pour me another drink. I was angry, but I couldn’t figure out how to start of fight with Kol. As I watched him drink, I saw him struggle with the same problem. We were going to be here for a while and hopefully we’d end up drunk and naked. 

We ended up almost fully clothed in an alley only a block from The Grille. That wasn’t supposed to sound bitter. He was just as good as ever. 

“You need to figure this out, don’t you?” I ask.

Kol nodded. “I’m going for a walk.”

I let him go with only a kiss; I know now this was a mistake. I should not have returned to the bar for another drink. After sun set, my phone buzzed. “Gilberts want to call a truce- keep you posted,” Kol texted. But when he didn’t make good on his word, I walked to the Gilberts’ house on my own; I should have ran. 

“Nooooo!!! NOOOOO!!!” I cried, my throat burned as I yelled as loud as I could. Kol was in flames. My skin felt like it was on fire. I sank to my knees. “Kol!!!” I cried in anguish that I could not help. I only needed to be invited in, but I couldn’t get to my Kol. I heaved and cried, tearing apart the door jamb, but to no avail. I couldn’t get in and I could do nothing as my mate burned in front of me. I felt as though my heart had been ripped from my chest. The emotional and physical pain were one. I had a gaping hole that made me cry out and I could not stop, it ached so much. I began heaving. As a vampire, there was nothing for me to throw up, but I couldn’t control the convulsions.

I don’t know when Niklaus showed up, but first I was in a ball at his feet, crying. Then, he was holding me, keeping me from falling as I sobbed into his chest. 

“What did you do?” He growled with an arm still wrapped around my waist.

“We had no choice!” Elena protested. “He was trying to cut off Jeremy’s arm”

“Lies! My friend hissed. “He would never have gotten inside if you hadn’t set a trap for him.”

At seeing the hybrid, Elena began to panic. “You said you were gonna put him down too!”

Niklaus yelled back at her, but I was beginning to only catch parts of the conversation. “…burn this house to the ground and then when you try to flee for your lives; I’ll kill you both without blinking!” That was my kind of threat. 

“You’ll never get the cure,” Jeremy chimed in. 

“You really think for an instant I care about my bloody hybrids,” Niklaus responded and set me down on. He had me sit on the stoop, leaning against the outside of the house. I had lost my hysteria, but I could still feel the pain where my heart should be. It was unlike anything I had ever felt. “I want the cure so I can destroy it. I would have killed you all the second we dug it up, but now I’m just gonna watch you burn instead,” he continued. 

I think it was then that Bonnie showed up, she crippled Niklaus, but then told Jeremy to invite us inside, because we were able to get inside. Nik chased them through the house, ending up in the living room. I slowly followed, not quite realizing what was going on. Then, I couldn’t get out. Niklaus punched the doorway, but was met with opposition each time. Kol’s body lay in front of us; burnt to a crisp. I choked back some tears, but it was useless. As Niklaus fought to get out, I began dry heaving again. The dark wooden floor rose up to meet me, cold against my elbows and my knees. 

“You can’t do this to me!” Nik hissed.

“You have no idea what I can do now,” the fledgling hunter retorted. 

“I will hunt all of you to your end!” Niklaus threatened with all his might. “Do you hear me? Do you?!”

I rocked myself back to a sitting position, pulled my knees to my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs. I backed up until I felt my back against the side of the sofa. I couldn’t take my eyes off of what was supposed to be Kol.

A boy entered the house and I looked up to recognize Tyler Lockwood. “Morning, sunshine,” he greeted Niklaus. “You look pathetic.”

“Only until Bonnie’s spell locking me in here wears off, then I’ll look different; angrier, perhaps. Of I won’t look like anything because I’ll have gouged your eyeballs from their sockets,” Nik threatened.

They sounded so far away; their voices were muffled. Bits and pieces of the conversation were able to break through the fog, but nothing to hold my interest. Tyler only wanted to kill Niklaus, and Niklaus pulled out the drowning mother card.

Then Caroline entered the house as well. “You’re still here. What are you doing?” she asked Tyler.

“Gloating,” Tyler answered. 

Niklaus approached the boundary. “Hello, Caroline.”

“He destroyed my life. I plan on being present for every second of his misery until I can kill him myself,” Tyler hissed. 

“Fine,” acquiesced Caroline. “You can gloat and multitask. This place is a disaster; starting with the horrific burnt corpse.” She pulled out a table cloth from a cabinet and gave one end of it to Tyler. They went to cover Kol’s body and I made an instinctive, protective move. I tried to keep them from taking him from me, but was stopped by the barrier. Running at it full speed hurt, but I needed to get out. I kept hitting and clawing at the air. 

“Why’s she so upset?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah, all you guys did was argue?” Caroline chimed in.

Niklaus tried to calm me down to keep me from hurting myself, but I shook him off. “He was my mate!” I screamed and receiving shocked silence as a response. I was sure the two of them didn’t understand the significance of the bond between mates, but they had enough respect not to retaliate. 

“Tyler’s mother is dead. So is my brother. We’re even,” Nik said softly. “Call Bonnie, get her to let us out of here.”

“I will never, ever help you,” Caroline hissed.

“How quickly you forget the part where I saved Tyler from the misery of being a werewolf. Or the night your mother invited me into her home to save the life of her precious daughter,” Niklaus pleaded his case. 

“How delusional are you?” Caroline laughed harshly. “You killed his mother and let’s not forget we’re standing in a house were Elena’s Aunt Jenna used to live or did you think your charm would get us to forget how you killed her too? You- you know what? No. I am not going to engage in this. I- You are not even worth the calories I burn talking to you."

She had gone too far, pushed Niklaus too much. He grabbed the floor lamp that was next to him and impaled her, using it to pull her across the barrier where he bit her and let her body drop.

“No!” Tyler yelled. 

“Now that was definitely worth the calories,” Nik grinned with his blood stained lips. 

After Tyler had taken Caroline away, Niklaus sat down on the floor next to me and gathered me into his arms. I rested my head on his chest and he stroked my hair. 

Newly healed Caroline and Tyler showed up the next day carrying a laptop and something large wrapped in cloth. Nik was sitting on the coffee table like a zen master and I had finally found the strength to move to sit on the couch. 

“Well if it isn’t little orphan Lockwood. Come to show how laughably impotent you are against me?” Niklaus said. 

“I’m just trying to help my friends find the cure,” Tyler replied. “Found this in your attic.” He pulled the hunter’s sword from the cloth. 

When they realized that it was not in English, Nik tried not to laugh. “If only you spoke Aramaic,” he spoke in Aramaic. 

Of course, I spoke Aramaic as well, but I didn’t want to help. “Niklaus,” I whispered. “If they wake Silas, then Kol would have died for nothing.”

“I will not let that happen,” he said to me. “But my dear sister is also desperate to be human.”

“Hey, it’s Caroline,” she called Rebekah. “We have the translation for that tattoo. We’re emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now.”

“Got it, thanks,” Bekah’s voice came through the speaker phone.

“Actually it was me,” said Nik.

“Nik, you helped.”

Niklaus chuckled. “You sound surprised, little sister.”

“Shouldn’t I be? You don’t want me to be human. You don’t want any of us to be human. Why would you help us find the cure?” she said.

“Well, I’m not,” I growled. “Kol died to prevent this.”

Niklaus ignored me and responded to his sister. “Maybe I finally realized the longer I stand in the way of what you want the   
longer you’ll continue to hate me. Perhaps I want my sister to finally know happiness.”

“Fool me once, shame on me,” she said. “Fool me a hundred times…”

“No more fooling. No more games. I hope you get to live and dies as you wish.”

“So do I,” she said.

“There is one more thing, Rebekah. There is only one dose of the cure. You need to find it first and take it. It’s the only way you’ll-” Nik was cut off when Tyler ended the phone call. Nik had given Rebekah an advantage while simultaneously causing mischief thousands of miles away.

Caroline came back later that night to beg for Tyler’s life. Niklaus spoke to her across the room, but I could have sworn he was sitting on the couch, still holding me. He gave Tyler a head start, but not his life. She left again and Niklaus, growled, punching the barrier, but his fist continued past the doorway. His eyes widened and he took my hands in his. 

“Listen to me, sweetheart. I want you to go home; to my house. Call Elijah and I will be there soon,” he kissed me. 

He exited the front door and I went to wear Kol’s body remained under a tablecloth. Disgraceful. I picked up the charred body bridal style. There were no tears this time, just an aching emptiness inside of me. I carried him out the back door and walked all the way to Niklaus’s mansion. There, in the wine cellar remained the ornate, family coffins. I placed Kol in his and kissed the seared flesh on his forehead. With one last look, I closed the lid. 

But then he was standing next to the coffin. I yelled and jumped back. “How-how are you here?” 

“I’m not,” he answered. “I’m on the Other Side.”

“Then how can I still see you?” I asked, walking around the coffin to be near him.

Kol shrugged. “It could be our bond as mates. Or the amount of each other’s blood that we’ve ingested.” He reached out to touch me, but couldn’t. While I could see and hear him, he had no corporeal form. “I need you to leave and find love. You’re as old as the earth, but you’re alone. I want you to fall in love with someone who is always kind to you.”

“Kol? Are we still mates?”

“Don’t ask questions you know the answers to.” He disappeared.


End file.
